Property Search

Past Options

Find out more about past options to buy in London through London Wide Initiative (LWI) and First Time Buyers’ Initiative (FTBI).

London-Wide Initiative (LWI)

This was a government-backed scheme for key workers With the Government sharing the costs and the benefits of home ownership with purchasers in order to make the homes more affordable. LWI was a shared equity product rather than a shared ownership scheme. The Government funded and retains part of properties but purchasers did not have to pay anything to finance the Government’s stake. This made LWI homes more affordable for key workers on lower incomes by reducing home ownership costs as a percentage of monthly income.

First Time Buyers Initiative (FTBI)

This was delivered through the regeneration agency; the Homes and Communities Agency. It enabled first time buyers, who could not otherwise afford to buy a home outright, to buy a minimum 50% share of a new home on a designated FTBI development.

The First Time Buyers Initiative aimed to help eligible first time buyers to own a share of their own property on a designated FTBI development:

The buyer required a mortgage for a minimum of 50% of the cost of the property.

The Government held the remaining share of the property.

For the first three years of FTBI home ownership there were no other payments to make on the portion you do not own.

After three years the buyer paid a charge to the Government of 1% per annum on the equity they didn’t own. The charge rose by 1% annually reaching a maximum of 3% after five years in the property.

The buyer repaid the Government-owned share when they sold the property.

A buyer had the option of buying additional shares in their home at anytime (a minimum additional purchase of 10% of the market value).